As Apple, Google Chase TV Market, Big Audiences Are Not Tuning In

Apple, Google and Roku see an untapped market in set-top boxes that deliver online entertainment to the television, but after many years, some are wondering if they’ve tuned into the right channel.

The overall market for these devices, which compete with hardware from cable and satellite TV operators, is growing. Research firm IHS ISuppli said sales of these so-called over-the-top boxes rose 39 percent last year to 8.6 million units globally. But is that a lot? Consider that Apple alone sold 32 million iPads in fiscal 2011, its second year on the market. The company sold around 2.8 million Apple TVs during the same span, and so far has sold 4 million of the devices this fiscal year, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said. Technology executives and analysts say that if these boxes could just offer more cable programming, then they could succeed.